Longest Legal Battle

In the legal fight over the Purple Line, the light-rail project’s opponents refuse to back down. Two Town of Chevy Chase residents and a trail group have pursued a lawsuit against the project since 2014. Their complaint has morphed from concerns over parkland, to whether shrimp-like creatures would be harmed, to its latest iteration—questions over whether Metro’s ridership decline and safety issues could impact the project. The plaintiffs didn’t give up even after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a ruling in the lawsuit that allowed construction to proceed. They filed another lawsuit in September alleging that the federal government improperly funded the transit plan. Despite their efforts, the state has begun tree clearing and other work on the 16.2-mile light-rail line.​